flik9999

Hey would a road bike that you convert to a flat bar be faster than a hybrid bike? Would the geometry of the flat bar and higher gearing make it a faster ride?

ColonelSanders

It could be faster due to improved aerodynamics which come with having a lower stem height, but the trade off is that this will likely be more uncomfortable to ride.


Also higher gearing is only good if you can go close to maxing it out and you might need the lower gearing that is usually found on hybrids for certain hills, depending on your fitness levels.

JonathanGennick 

You can buy bikes that are essentially already what you describe. The Specialized Sirrus comes to mind. You can go quite high-end on that one. At the high-end it even comes with aero-looking rims.

jbell_64

The upper end of the Trek FX line would be something similar.

Maelochs

Not sure exactly what you are considering here.

First off ... no bike is "faster." However ... a flat-bar road bike might be Lighter than a hybrid, depending on which road bike you buy (same for a drop-bar bike, converted.)

Gearing is changeable. You can put a bigger chainring on a hybrid. Geometry is also different with each bike .... you might sit up just as high, and therefore have as much wind resistance, on a flat-bar road bike as on a hybrid.

If the question is, "Should I replace my hybrid with a road bike?" ... then we can start to discuss specifics. If you have a hybrid and a drop-bar road bike you are thinking of converting we can discuss specifics.

In general, the answer is ... "The question is meaningless." (I believe the Japanese have a word, "Mu," which applies to this situation. Maybe Sangetsu or another Japanese poster can better educate me?)

I'd say, if you want a lighter bike which will go faster for the same effort as a heavier hybrid you own now ... yes, a lighter bike will go faster for the same effort. Unless you are spinning the pedals at 120 rpm in top gear, the gearing won't really be an issue. Riding position might be the same.

Biggest difference would likely be wheels and tires .... if the hybrid has heavier, wider wheels and tires, they will absorb a lot of bumps, and a lot of energy, while skinnier, lighter wheels will be a little more fragile (plenty strong unless you regularly crash curbs) and more efficient at transferring energy.

rumrunn6

is that really the question you need an answer to?

reminds me when a guy on a drop bar road bike passed me (after I passed him) riding my roadified hybrid w drop bars & front suspension fork & he said: "I'm not getting passed by a hybrid, that's a hybrid right?" so I passed him again & never looked back

finch204

A road bike with flat bars could be faster than a hybrid bike because of its lighter weight. The speed difference is probably not as big as you expect. For average speeds, I'm only 1-2 mph faster on my Madone (with flat bars) compared to when I'm riding a Trek 7.2 FX.

fietsbob

you keep the roady 23 tires and brakes .. There were Fitness Bike options to get high end road components compatible.


but the air resistance of the rider sitting more upright will reduce your speed .. Vs bent way over in the drops..

practical

I did just what you described. I replaced the drop handlebars with flat handlebars on a Specialized Sequoia Elite. It is nearly identical to my hybrid Giant Escape 1 in geometry except that it's about 8 pounds lighter (19 lbs. vs. 28 lbs.) First of all, I thought the flat bars made it much MORE comfortable to ride. I guess I like flat bars. I used this bike on many long rides including a century. Second, I did NOT find that it was faster than the Giant in most situations; the one exception was in climbing. It did climb better. The rear cassette of the Specialized didn't have the same range as the Giant even though both were nine-speed triples. Overall, I like both bikes. The Giant has racks and fenders so I tend to use that as "commuter" bike. The Specialized for longer rides. I bought the Specialized on craigslist for $400 and did the conversion myself for about $50. I figure I have pretty much the equivalent (or better) of $1,000 (plus) flat bar road hybrids being currently promoted. FWIW, I also have a drop bar cross bike that weighs about 15 pounds and that beats either of the above mentioned bikes in most categories except riding in traffic where having good mirrors is a must.

ramzilla

I've converted road bikes to upright riders. In my experience the upright riders are way slower than the equivalent drop bar bike. I can do three laps around Stone Mountain in about an hour on a drop bar bike. Takes about an hour and a half on an upright bike. Big difference in wind resistance. But, I enjoy both styles of riding. A nice road bike converted to upright bars, light frame, & 25mm tires will run a little faster than most heavier hybrid bikes with big fat 35 - 40mm tires. But, not by much.

ClydeTim

As far as gearing, the bigger gear would allow the bike to go faster on let's say a mountain road descent as far as not spinning out on a 46 big ring. SO the bike has the ability to go faster in that sense if the rider has the ability to push the bigger gear.

As far as the gearing making you a faster rider for the fact it has a bigger gear is not the case. I was on a ride one day and passed a guy who tried to keep up. Later I stopped at a park to refill my water bottles. He pulled up later and said he could not keep up with me as he was in his 50 big ring on his compact crank and I had bigger gear with my standard 53.

That was far from the truth. I told him to look down at my driver train. I was spinning in my small ring 39 the entire time.

rumrunn6

add bar ends to a drop bar bike?

caloso

Those are bull horn or pursuit bars with bar ends stuck on them. (Which is not a terrible idea, actually.)

12strings

excluding things like bearing quality...the main differences that will make a bike faster are:

-smooth, thinner road tires vs larger, heavier mtb tires
-a more aggressive, leaned forward position for better aerodynamics
-fit, ie Your ability to be comfortable enough on the bike to produce power for a sustained amount of time.
**(these last 2 often go together, since you can produce more power leaned forward than you can sitting straight up...but only to a point...if you lean so far forward that you are too uncomfortable to ride efficiently, then you will be slower).
-Weight of the bike (matters mostly on accelerations and climbing hills).

Things that don't matter as much:
-whether the bike is called a hybrid or flat-bar road bike.
-

Retro Grouch 

It's not about the bike.

Once you get over about 15 MPH the energy that it takes to push your torso through the air exceeds all of the other factors that are holding you back combined. If you want to go faster, work on your position on the bike.

puma1552

I think everything Elite and above is a flat bar road bike, so you dont even need to spend too much

caloso

What I don't understand is why you would want to reduce the number of hand positions.

mj0

This man knows his stuff

AlmostTrick

"Hybrid" is an awfully wide category of bikes. Some are tanks with suspension systems and bolt upright positioning. Others are truly lightweight road bikes minus the drop bars right out of the factory.

Flat bars can also be setup for a favorable aerodynamic position. That's how mine are. I'm just as "aero" as those I ride with are on the hoods of their drop bars... And most of them almost never use the drops. To each their own.

Saitama

You can make flat bars in an aero position several ways. 1) I have a Ritchie adjustable stem 120mm long. I raise it for a more comfortable upright position, but you can easily put it down for a lower aero position. 2) If you have a hybrid with front suspension and lock out, like I do, you can put the suspension at the lowest position and get more aero that way.

cs1

That's a good question. The average rider just doesn't use the drops. The people who frequent the forums are not the average riders. They're the hard core riders. They tend to look at questions like that through the lense of the advanced rider. Which is not what what the average get out and ride folks do or even want.

AlmostTrick

I don't understand why you would want a setup so uncomfortable that it requires switching around between multiple positions just to be tolerable.

GravelMN

Not all that big of a deal, honestly.

I've got Ergon grips/bar ends on my flatbar mutt and it is incredibly comfortable for long distance road, day touring and gravel grinding. I narrowed the bars to just a tad wider than the drop bars on my road bike and, with the built-in bar ends, I have positions that are extremely similar to riding the tops or hoods on the drop bar. Since I spend over 90% of my time on the road bike on the tops or hoods, the loss of the drop position is pretty negligible on the flat bar. I can get nearly as aero just by bending my elbows until my forearms are parallel to the ground.

BISCUT

If you do go flat, go wide!

I'm just getting use to the drop bar. It's got a lot of positives once you settle in. Mtb flat is just 1 position all day. Light transitioning to road from all mtb makes me realize so mucheck is more about what we are use to than what may or may not be "better."

I've come to realize bike people aren't big on "change."

Retro Grouch 

At which point of a rainbow does red become orange?

I'm not real sure what the difference is between a hybrid and a flat bar road bike. I kind of think that maybe, if it has 28 mm or narrower tires, it's a flat bar road bike. If the tires are wider, it's a hybrid.